BMW's engine development and purchasing expert, Markus Duesmann, is set to become the CEO of Volkswagen's Audi premium brand, after BMW dropped its opposition to his early departure, a German newspaper reported on Saturday. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung cited a person with knowledge of the appointment as saying Duesmann will start as Audi chief on April 1.

Volkswagen has abandoned its decades-old obsession with empire building and no-expense-spared engineering to free up resources for the development and mass production of electric cars, its CEO Herbert Diess told Reuters. A global clampdown on toxic exhaust fumes has triggered a new wave of consolidation in the auto industry as carmakers look for ways to slash development costs for low-emission and self-driving technologies. While rivals such as FiatChrysler and Renault explore a $35 billion deal to bulk up, Volkswagen is taking the opposite approach: slimming down.

Hours before the Frankfurt Motor Show flung open its doors to the press on Tuesday, the chief executive of Volkswagen was locked in debate with Tina Velo, a well-known environmental activist. “Demonising the car is not going to help,” Herbert Diess said during the robust hour-long exchange. The new electric cars on display, from the Porsche Taycan to the Opel Corsa-e, drew crowds — but they will also need to attract a significant number of buyers if manufacturers are to avoid punitive fines.

Ford (NYSE:F) stock went into reverse as its bonds were labelled "junk" by a ratings agency. The decision by Moody's to downgrade Ford's credit rating is comparable to what happens to a car buyer whose credit score drops.Source: FotograFFF / Shutterstock.com That's just what happened.As Ford's second-quarter earnings report made clear, in June it had almost $91 billion in long-term Ford Credit loans meant to help buyers pay for Ford cars. $50.5 billion of Ford Credit debt, presumably dealer loans, will mature within one year.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsBut the Moody's report attacked the business for weak cash generation as it pursues a costly restructuring program.What's really going on? Is it the Cars or the Buyers?The "tell" here is that Moody's also called Ford's outlook "stable," noting it has $23 billion in cash and under $12 billion in "automotive debt" taken out for the company. Rather than operate a separate loan operation, Ford carries Ford Credit, based in Omaha, as a subsidiary. Banks expect some loans to go bad, holding reserves against which losses are charged off. Ford Credit isn't operating that way. * 10 Stocks to Sell in Market-Cursed September In 2002, Ford sold its Brazilian loan portfolio to a local bank for $430 million. That bank then issued more loans to buyers on its own account to boost Ford's market share. Handing loans to buyers as debt is controversial. If the portfolio isn't properly managed it can generate huge losses in an economic downturn. A recession would be a double whammy for Ford's balance sheet.But Ford Credit also provides valuable data to its parent company. One-third of its profit now comes from data, up from one-fourth just two years ago. Ford recently bought a small electric scooter startup, Spin, mainly for the data. The Reinvention of FordMeanwhile, the reinvention of Ford continues.Most reporters highlight the $11.1 billion investment Ford is making in electric and self-driving cars. But that also means it's retreating from its traditional business. About 10% of Ford's white-collar office staff was recently let go. Job cuts are coming in Europe, South America and Russia.Ford is focusing its internal combustion efforts on big trucks and SUVs, which continue to sell in the U.S., while pushing EVs in Europe. The company hopes to get half its European sales from hybrids and EVs within three years.Ford is working closely with Volkswagen (OTCMKTS:VWAGY) on electric vehicles. Volkswagen in turn is pushing the modular electric drive matrix (MEB) platform, building its first MEB-based factory in China. This is a single platform that works across all car models and lowers costs. Sharing that development expense with other car companies cuts costs further.Ford isn't putting all its eggs in Volkswagen's basket. It has also invested in Rivian, an electric truck startup. The company has also invested in Argo AI for autonomous car technology. Its latest Michigan factory is expected to produce semi-autonomous vehicles within two years. The Bottom Line on Ford StockAs a stock, Ford is strictly for income investors. The 15 cent per share dividend yields over 6.3% at a time when long-term U.S. bonds yield just 2.3%.As a company, however, Ford is currently highly speculative. It's trying to figure out the new worlds of electric and self-driving cars while acknowledging the sunset of its old business models. Profits are expected to come from new directions and its winding up its old ways of doing business.Electric and self-driving cars filled with data excite Ford. They scare Moody's.Dana Blankenhorn is a financial and technology journalist. He is the author of the mystery thriller, The Reluctant Detective Finds Her Family, available at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at danablankenhorn@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn. As of this writing he owned no shares in companies mentioned in this article. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Stocks to Sell in Market-Cursed September * 7 of the Worst IPO Stocks in 2019 * 7 Best Stocks That Crushed It This Earnings Season The post What's the Deal With Ford's 'Junk' Bond Rating From Moody's? appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Europe's carmakers are telling governments they must help build electric car charging points and provide consumer subsidies to boost sales of battery-powered vehicles and assist the industry in meeting stringent new emissions rules. German carmakers are accelerating plans to launch electric vehicles, under pressure from a European Union mandate to deliver a 37.5% cut in carbon dioxide emissions between 2021 and 2030, on top of a 40% cut in emissions between 2007 and 2021. Industry executives warned at this week's Frankfurt auto show that the EU rules could be disastrous for profits and jobs because mainstream customers were not buying electric vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are showcasing curvaceous, high-end electric sports cars at the Frankfurt auto show as part of an industry effort to counter Tesla, avert billions in European pollution fines and defuse complaints from climate activists. Germany's premium automakers are now marketing electric cars as their flagship models, a strategy which Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW hope will lure customers away from gas-guzzling SUVs that could soon land them with hefty fines under new EU emissions rules.

PARIS/FRANKFURT, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Time is running out for European carmakers, which have waited until the last minute to try to meet ambitious EU emissions targets and face billions in fines if they fail to comply. Manufacturers from PSA Group to Volkswagen are using this week's Frankfurt auto show to reveal the new models and strategies they hope can slash carbon dioxide emissions within months. By next year, CO2 must be cut to 95 grammes per kilometre for 95% of cars from the current 120.5g average - a figure that has risen of late as consumers spurn fuel-efficient diesels and embrace SUVs.

Volkswagen introduced Monday the ID.3, the first model in its new all-electric ID brand and the beginning of the automaker's ambitious plan to sell 1 million EVs annually by 2025. The ID.3 debut, which is ahead of the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt, is an important milestone for Volkswagen. Now, four years later, VW is starting to show more than just concept vehicles for its newly imagined electric, connected and carbon-neutral brand.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether the decision of four automakers in July to reach a voluntary agreement with California to adopt state emissions standards violated antitrust law, people briefed on the matter said on Friday. The antitrust division's chief, Makan Delrahim, sent Aug. 28 letters to the four automakers saying the government was concerned the agreement "may violate federal antitrust laws" but adding it had "reached no conclusions," according to documents seen by Reuters. The disclosure comes as the Trump administration has ramped up its opposition to automakers seeking to sidestep it on rolling back Obama era fuel-efficiency rules.

Sales of new cars in Russia fell 1.3% year-on-year in August to 145,545 units, after a 2.4% decline in the previous month, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) said on Friday. "August showed no significant change in the overall market situation, as market sales continue to underperform vs. the robust level established in the prior year," Joerg Schreiber, Chairman of the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee, was quoted as saying in a statement.

In honor of the just-released Porsche Taycan, here's a pop quiz: How long does it take for an electric sportscar to go from 0 to 90 miles per hour and back again?If you remember a few years back, electric motors weren't exactly known for speed. The first mass-market example was in Toyota Motor's (NYSE:TM) Prius, and to this day, everyone loves poking fun at the Prius hybrid. You can still find plenty of Prius jokes online.­Well, we've come a long way. Wednesday afternoon, Porsche (OTCMKTS:POAHY) released the Taycan - which is fully electric, by the way - and is promoting its new model with a spectacular video of a test run aboard an aircraft carrier.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsBelow you see the Porsche Taycan gearing up (so to speak) on the USS Hornet's flight deck. In the video, which you can watch here, the car goes from 0 to 90 mph and then back to 0 mph in just 10.7 seconds.Source: Porsche.comI haven't had a car in a decade - having lived in big cities most of my life - and I'm normally a Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model S fan. But if I was in the market, I'd want this one! * 7 Stocks to Buy In a Flat Market Porsche seems to have overcome most of the worst stereotypes about electric vehicles (EVs):The 0-90-0 test run proves it can get up and go - the Porsche Taycan has a top speed of roughly 155 mph, comparable to the Model S in "Ludicrous" mode.Plus, Porsche says it can produce an impressive 40,000 Taycans in a year. That's comparable to Porsche's sedan, the Panamera… and it's about double Tesla's first-year production of the Model S! It's also double what Porsche originally had planned for the Taycan. But EVs are clearly in high demand.And, of course, the Taycan has Porsche's classic styling:Source: Porsche.comThe next hurdle to clear is range.The company is advertising a roughly 270-mile range for the Porsche Taycan. That doesn't quite measure up to, say, the Porsche 911 Carrera, which can get over 400 miles on a tank.The internal-combustion engine may be 100-year-old technology, but so far EVs have struggled to compete on range. That's largely due to severe limitations with the current batteries. Batteries 101Right now, EVs rely on the same technology first developed for Sony camcorders in the 1980s: the lithium-ion battery.It's the same battery you'll find in your smartphone and laptop, too. But to power something on the level of a Porsche Taycan, the lithium-ion battery becomes incredibly bulky.That bulk just amplifies one of the other problems with lithium-ion: It has a liquid electrolyte inside that is flammable.Remember the problems with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7? If you tried to bring the phone on an airplane, the flight attendants would confiscate it because the lithium-ion batteries had started catching fire. In early 2018, HP had to recall 50,000 laptops for a similar reason.But electric cars are the future - and, all over the world, regulators are "laying down the law" to get people to make the switch: from California to Germany and even China (which struggles with pollution).So, naturally, carmakers are revving up their search for an alternative battery.Porsche and other German automakers like Audi (OTCMKTS:AUDVF) and Mercedes all want next-generation batteries in their fleets as soon as possible. The German government is providing a $1 billion grant for battery research. Volkswagen (OTCMKTS:VWAGY) and BMW (OTCMKTS:BMWYY) have applied for their slice of that funding.In Japan, a "battery cartel" of sorts has sprung up. The Japanese government, too, is working with researchers - plus major names like Toyota and Panasonic (OTCMKTS:PCRFY) - to get this particular new technology to market. Toyota is pulling out all the stops to deploy it for mass production by summer 2020, when the Olympics come to Tokyo.Why? Well, with this battery, you could get DOUBLE the range after just 15 minutes of charging.Plus, you don't need the liquid electrolyte, so these batteries aren't flammable. In one memorable test, a startup called Ionic Materials shot its battery with a Remington .22. It took three bullets, did not catch fire, and kept working!As an investor, this technology is ideal for a pure play on the battery revolution. Invest Where "Big Auto" Is Dropping Major CashI often talk about "picks and shovels" investing. And that's because if you look back at the 1849 Gold Rush, it was the folks supplying the picks and shovels who ultimately got rich.Therefore, at Investment Opportunities, I'm recommending companies that supply this new technology -- nicknamed the "Jesus Battery."Any competitors that have it will CRUSH Tesla, which may as well flush all the money it's spending on lithium-ion batteries down the toilet. Find out exactly what makes this battery so miraculous here.If you ever wanted to invest in the coming electric car revolution, but weren't sure how, THIS is your chance.I know I do.So I found a company that holds key patents.Automakers like Toyota are relying on this tiny company for its electric cars. Yet the company is totally off the radar.That makes now the right time to get in… before everyone else. I've got a full presentation on the investment opportunity in this "Jesus Battery," which you can view for free by clicking here.Matthew McCall left Wall Street to actually help investors -- by getting them into the world's biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. The power of being "first" gave Matt's readers the chance to bank +2,438% in Stamps.com (STMP), +1,523% in Ulta Beauty (ULTA) and +1,044% in Tesla (TSLA), just to name a few. Click here to see what Matt has up his sleeve now. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Deeply Discounted Energy Stocks to Buy * 7 Stocks to Buy In a Flat Market * 10 Stocks to Buy to Ride China's Emerging Wealth The post Porsche Taycan: Do We Finally Have a "Tesla Killer"? appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Turkey is increasingly confident German carmaker Volkswagen will build a production plant in the country after an "extremely positive" meeting between a senior company official and President Tayyip Erdogan this week, three Turkish sources said. Reuters reported last week that the two sides had been holding talks over Turkey's vehicle tax regime to conclude the 1 billion euro ($1.1 billion) investment. The carmaker, which has also considered making the investment in Bulgaria, has not announced a final decision, but sources have said Volkswagen is positive about investing in Turkey.